Release Notes (Website: Progressive release, Search map code refactor) - October 26, 2020

[+Geocaching HQ]

Release Notes (Website: Progressive release, Search map code refactor) - October 26, 2020
 
For the past couple of months, we’ve been hard at work improving the code base of the Search map. We have significantly improved the underlying technology of the Search map in order to increase maintainability, stability, and extensibility for the future. While this code refactor includes very little new functionality today, it does include major technical improvements.
 
Technical improvements include:
 

• The download size of the map application is 50% smaller than v1.0. Smaller applications equal faster load times for your browser.
• Now, the map only displays features as players actually interact with them. You do not download the parts you aren’t using. This was done in an effort to improve loading times as well. 
• The algorithms for displaying map pins on the Geocaching map are rewritten to prevent off-screen pins from being rendered. This makes the Geocaching map layer faster.
• The geocache list no longer displays off-screen elements, further improving performance.
• Numerous production rendering bugs are squashed.

 

What’s new:

• Web-Mobile view: Premium members can now add all caches to a List 
• Web-Mobile view: Premium members can now sort the search results 

 
When will you see the new version of the Search map?

We recently began deploying this feature to users. It will slowly roll out to geocachers over the next few weeks. This is to ensure a quality release with minimal bugs. You may see the new map version today or you might not see it until the release is fully rolled out. To check what version you are seeing, we have added a version number to the map settings. The new version is v1.2. Note: the map settings button is only available on desktop and tablet views. 

 

 

Erin (Oceansazul) is watching this thread to answer questions whenever possible.

 

Any posts in this thread should relate to features in this release. Comments unrelated to the release may be removed. Please direct unrelated comments to other appropriate threads. Thanks!

[+jeffgamer]

Hi!  My map is displaying the new version 1.2 settings...but there's a bug.  All of a sudden, starting today, the map feature isn't working.  I go to a cache page...click on the "View Larger Map" link...and it gives me a message that reads, "Sorry, we couldn’t find what you’re looking for. Please check the spelling or try one of these quick searches."  No matter how I try to go the the map page, it always gives me that message.

 

Sidenote: I use Safari as my browser.

[+terratin]

So I'm curious. I never really use this map as it's slow and doesn't show what I want to view - basically use it for tour planning for which it is useless. Ok, so the old version takes 7 seconds to load. Maybe the new version is faster when I'm moved over.

[Oceansazul]

10 hours ago, jeffgamer said:

Hi!  My map is displaying the new version 1.2 settings...but there's a bug.  All of a sudden, starting today, the map feature isn't working.  I go to a cache page...click on the "View Larger Map" link...and it gives me a message that reads, "Sorry, we couldn’t find what you’re looking for. Please check the spelling or try one of these quick searches."  No matter how I try to go the the map page, it always gives me that message.

 

Sidenote: I use Safari as my browser.

@jeffgamer Thank you for reporting this. We will take a look. I have tested the behavior I think you are reporting on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and am not able to reproduce the bug.

If you are willing to share more details that would be helpful. Are you on a mobile device, tablet, or desktop? Could you share your version of Safari? The version number can be found under the “About Safari” under the “Safari” menu. Can you confirm these are the steps you are taking? 

 

1. From Safari browser, when you are opted into the Map version 1.2, go to a Cache details page, like https://coord.info/GC896PK
2. From that Cache details page, Click the "View Larger Map" link
3. Result: You are taken to https://www.geocaching.com/play/map, but get the error message 
4. Expected: You are taken to https://www.geocaching.com/play/map and see the details of the cache, with the pin of that cache highlighted on the map

 

Thanks for any details.

[+Gill & Tony]

I've just tried a search for Wodonga, State of Victoria and I get 430 results in a 16 Km radius.  I then click the map icon and get the map, centred on Wodonga.   However, the scale is such that the map includes most of southeast Australia.   Sydney to the East, Dubbo to the north and Stawell to the West.  N/S distance is over 1000 km.

 

The caches are a pimple in the middle

[+MartyBartfast]

44 minutes ago, Gill & Tony said:

However, the scale is such that the map includes most of southeast Australia. 

I just did the same search and the map was zoomed to just fit the caches, so about 35km across - which seems about right.

[+barefootjeff]

14 minutes ago, MartyBartfast said:

1 hour ago, Gill & Tony said:

However, the scale is such that the map includes most of southeast Australia. 

I just did the same search and the map was zoomed to just fit the caches, so about 35km across - which seems about right.

 

It seems inconsistent. When I search on Wodonga the map zoomed to just fit the caches, but if I search instead on "Gosford", which returns 341 caches within 16km of the city of Gosford in New South Wales, I get this when I map the result:

 

 

which is pretty much all of NSW.

[+MartyBartfast]

9 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

but if I search instead on "Gosford", which returns 341 caches within 16km of the city of Gosford in New South Wales, I get this when I map the result:

This is what i get for Gosford, again looks perfectly OK.  FWIW I'm on Firefox 74.0.1.
 
 

[+Gill & Tony]

That is interesting.  I did the first Wodonga search on my android tablet, in portrait mode using Chrome.   When I do it on my PC running W10 in landscape I get a close-up of Wodonga.  When I do Gosford I get the same as Jeff.

 

Strange...

 

 

[+barefootjeff]

2 minutes ago, MartyBartfast said:

This is what i get for Gosford, again looks perfectly OK.  FWIW I'm on Firefox 74.0.1.

 

I'm on Firefox 81.0.2 on Windows 10, with map version 1.2.

[+MartyBartfast]

7 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

I'm on Firefox 81.0.2 on Windows 10, with map version 1.2.

My map version is still 1.0 - a smoking gun?

[+Viajero Perdido]

I gave it a quick look.  I do get v1.2, and I see it's nice and snappy, sorta like Google in the old days when speed was everything for them.  Well done on the optimization.

 

It occurred to me...  If you added an auto-search option, and brought over some of the very useful maps from the "Leaflet" bucket, you could almost get away with retiring the Browse map.  IF.  But I gather you're using vector maps under the hood, which'd likely prevent you bringing all the maps over, sigh.  Hey, doesn't Thunderforest offer vector maps?  Hmm...  I'd still be grumpy without a few specific maps (reasons given earlier), but most people...

 

PS, Mapbox probably has some great vector maps.  Remember that style that appeared on cache pages for just a few days, some years back?  Probably available as a vector map.  If that was available to us on the big screen with caches all over it (is that maybe your plan?), I'd be over the moon. 

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by Viajero Perdido

[Oceansazul]

We are looking into this.

1 hour ago, Gill & Tony said:

I've just tried a search for Wodonga, State of Victoria and I get 430 results in a 16 Km radius.  I then click the map icon and get the map, centred on Wodonga.   However, the scale is such that the map includes most of southeast Australia. 

We did just release a fix about an hour ago, for zoom levels, which is why there might have been a blip of discrepancy. However,  it appears it may only partially be working when the city comes back with an associated state. We will continue to investigate.

[+jeffgamer]

7 hours ago, Oceansazul said:

@jeffgamer Thank you for reporting this. We will take a look. I have tested the behavior I think you are reporting on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and am not able to reproduce the bug.

If you are willing to share more details that would be helpful. Are you on a mobile device, tablet, or desktop? Could you share your version of Safari? The version number can be found under the “About Safari” under the “Safari” menu. Can you confirm these are the steps you are taking? 

 

1. From Safari browser, when you are opted into the Map version 1.2, go to a Cache details page, like https://coord.info/GC896PK
2. From that Cache details page, Click the "View Larger Map" link
3. Result: You are taken to https://www.geocaching.com/play/map, but get the error message 
4. Expected: You are taken to https://www.geocaching.com/play/map and see the details of the cache, with the pin of that cache highlighted on the map

 

Thanks for any details.

 

Yup.  That's all accurate.  Just to confirm...I went to your specific coord suggested above...clicked on the view larger map link...and got result #3 instead of result #4.  I'm on a laptop, a MacBook Air.  Safari version 11.1.

[+Gill & Tony]

16 minutes ago, Oceansazul said:

We are looking into this.

We did just release a fix about an hour ago, for zoom levels, which is why there might have been a blip of discrepancy. However,  it appears it may only partially be working when the city comes back with an associated state. We will continue to investigate.

Thanks for the prompt response.

[+edscott]

19 hours ago, jeffgamer said:

Hi!  My map is displaying the new version 1.2 settings...but there's a bug.  All of a sudden, starting today, the map feature isn't working.  I go to a cache page...click on the "View Larger Map" link...and it gives me a message that reads, "Sorry, we couldn’t find what you’re looking for. Please check the spelling or try one of these quick searches."  No matter how I try to go the the map page, it always gives me that message.

 

Sidenote: I use Safari as my browser.

Add me to the list of those that have been cast out of the loop.  Also using  a MAC  & Safari .

Edited October 29, 2020 by edscott
additional data: If I go back to my home area I get a map that I can then scroll as far afield as I want. But, I can't jump to a new area and start from there.

[Oceansazul]

1 hour ago, jeffgamer said:

 I'm on a laptop, a MacBook Air.  Safari version 11.1.

@jeffgamer & @edscott Thank you very much for the details. We are investigating this. 

[+terratin]

I was just switched over to 1.2

Compared to 7 seconds loading with the old version I got less than 2 now.

 

There's one bug though, and it looks like the error on the event calendar: When I click on deselect all I get a non-existing overlay

 

 

edit: all the other slide-switches on the map show the same behaviour!

 

Btw, I also just looked at the event calendar again where a similar issue was present. Now I get the following:

Not an empty layer anymore, but a map gets incorporated there.

Firefox latest version on Win 10.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by terratin

[+CAVinoGal]

I'm seeing the same behavior (Windows 10, Chrome) !  I like your event calendar better though ...

[+terratin]

Thanks a lot. Mind you, it's completely empty until the end of the year. At least I got to attend one Community Celebration event

/offtopic

[+ChriBli]

I too have the exact same problem as jeffgamer and edscott, since today or maybe a couple of days back. I have confirmed that I have version 1.2 maps. However, I'm on Windows 7 / Firefox 52.0. It works fine on Windows 10 / latest Chrome. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will be fixed even if it happens to only affect older browser versions.

[Oceansazul]

17 minutes ago, ChriBli said:

I too have the exact same problem as jeffgamer and edscott, since today or maybe a couple of days back. I have confirmed that I have version 1.2 maps. However, I'm on Windows 7 / Firefox 52.0. It works fine on Windows 10 / latest Chrome. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will be fixed even if it happens to only affect older browser versions.

Thank you for this detail about where this bug is happening. We continue to investigate and these details are helpful.

[+TmdAndGG]

Thanks HQ for this much needed update! Maybe now I will use the search map more often since it is less clunky.

Edited October 29, 2020 by TmdAndGG

[+Grimthorn]

OK What have you done? Since the update, every time I put in new coordinates my map zooms out showing all of the south of the UK. I then have to manually zoom back in to where I hope I wanted to go to. Before when I put in a new coordinate the map just moved over to centre the new coordinates. Totally unhelpful. Also , now I have to press the wheel button on the mouse to zoom in and out. This is not helpful. Please Please put these back.           Why is it that when something works perfectly well someone has to fix it?

.

[+MartyBartfast]

41 minutes ago, Grimthorn said:

every time I put in new coordinates my map zooms out showing all of the south of the UK.

 

Same here, it was OK on v1.0 yesteray, but I'm seeing this issue now I'm on v1.2

 

 

[+terratin]

Yep, can confirm. Random coords after being zoomed in on a cache in my area:

 

[Blue Square Thing]

OK, really odd thing occurring. It's not significant at all, but...

 

Sometimes - but not all the time - when I look at the cache sidebar the word PREMIUM is displayed when the cache isn't a PMO cache. See screenshot.

 

Some "testing" of this, and it seems to occur only **after** I click on a cache **on the map*** that is disabled - after which every cache I click on has PREMIUM displayed. When I click on the search list on the side panel it doesn't occur at all - just when I pick a cache on the map (to the extent that the same cache listing picked from the side search panel doesn't display Premium - but does when picked off of the map - but only after I've clicked on a disabled cache from the map (not the side bar)). After refresh the behaviour goes back to expected until I click on a disabled cache from the map again.

 

This occurs for all non-disabled caches clicked from the map once the behaviour starts (disabled just have disabled shown). It happens after I click on any disabled cache I can see on the map - ones I've found and ones I've not found.

 

I'm not a premium member so I have no idea what the behaviour for one of those is like.

 

I'm using the new search map with Safari 12.1.2 on OSX 10.12.6 (Sierra).

[+kunarion]

2 hours ago, Blue Square Thing said:

OK, really odd thing occurring. It's not significant at all, but...

 

Sometimes - but not all the time - when I look at the cache sidebar the word PREMIUM is displayed when the cache isn't a PMO cache. See screenshot.

 

Some "testing" of this, and it seems to occur only **after** I click on a cache **on the map*** that is disabled - after which every cache I click on has PREMIUM displayed. When I click on the search list on the side panel it doesn't occur at all - just when I pick a cache on the map (to the extent that the same cache listing picked from the side search panel doesn't display Premium - but does when picked off of the map - but only after I've clicked on a disabled cache from the map (not the side bar)). After refresh the behaviour goes back to expected until I click on a disabled cache from the map again.

 

This occurs for all non-disabled caches clicked from the map once the behaviour starts (disabled just have disabled shown). It happens after I click on any disabled cache I can see on the map - ones I've found and ones I've not found.

 

I'm not a premium member so I have no idea what the behaviour for one of those is like.

 

I'm using the new search map with Safari 12.1.2 on OSX 10.12.6 (Sierra).

 

I'm getting the same thing at the moment, pretty consistently in the Brave browser.  Click caches on the map and they're fine at first.  Click a Premium cache, and now any caches on screen develop that "Premium" tag, until the page is refreshed.  I wonder if this is related to the disappearing caches bug, where clicking a map icon causes that icon to vanish (or some caches just don't even appear).

 

If you're Basic, once all caches are shown "Premium", does that affect access to the cache pages?

[Blue Square Thing]

2 hours ago, kunarion said:

If you're Basic, once all caches are shown "Premium", does that affect access to the cache pages?

 

No, not at all - and they all show on the map. Which is why it's not really an issue, just a bit odd. Not even sure why I even noticed it as I rarely use the search map.

[+MartyBartfast]

When clicking "Map List" from the "My Lists" page, some of the maps show the WHOLE WORLD (and some!) as below. A little testing suggests this happens when the results of the list straddle the Greenwich Meridien. I'm pretty sure this is a resurgence of a previous bug in the maps which I reported some years ago and was resolved at the time.

Here's the map I get from  https://www.geocaching.com/plan/lists/BM68MER   (all the hits are over in the UK plus one in Greece).

 

 

[Oceansazul]

We just released a fix which should addres the map zoom level issues reported here. 

I've noted the other issues and we are continuing to investigate and work on this. Thank you. 

[+MartyBartfast]

13 hours ago, Oceansazul said:

We just released a fix which should addres the map zoom level issues reported here. 

I'm not sure whether your fix should have resolved the problem I reported above where the whole world map is displayed, but I am still seeing the same problem.

[+SkiCycle]

If I click on View Larger Map from a cache page I don't seem to have any way to switch to Browse Map any longer. Am I missing something or is this intentional?

[Blue Square Thing]

16 minutes ago, SkiCycle said:

If I click on View Larger Map from a cache page I don't seem to have any way to switch to Browse Map any longer. Am I missing something or is this intentional?

 

It's fine for me - Safari 12.1.2 on Mac OSX. You may need to say which browser/OS you're using - different browsers will behave differently at times.

[+CAVinoGal]

2 hours ago, SkiCycle said:

If I click on View Larger Map from a cache page I don't seem to have any way to switch to Browse Map any longer. Am I missing something or is this intentional?

It works as expected for me as well - Windows 10, Chrome browser.  Click on View Larger map from a cache page, I get the search map highlighting the cache I clicked from; up in the right corner is the "Browse Geocaches" button.  Screenshot?

[+MartyBartfast]

2 hours ago, SkiCycle said:

If I click on View Larger Map from a cache page I don't seem to have any way to switch to Browse Map any longer. Am I missing something or is this intentional?

Works for me on all of  Firefox & Chrome on Linux, and Microsoft Edge & CCleaner browser on Windows 10. The "Browse Geoaches" button is in the top right corner of the maps.

 

Do you have any addons or user scripts running which might be interferring?

 

[+SkiCycle]

My problem with the missing Browse Geocaches button is caused by GC Little Helper - thanks MartyBartfast for suggesting it.

[Oceansazul]

On 10/31/2020 at 2:26 AM, MartyBartfast said:

I'm not sure whether your fix should have resolved the problem I reported above where the whole world map is displayed, but I am still seeing the same problem.

@MartyBartfast The fix we released addresses the zoom level issues reported here but not the issue you reported where the whole world map is displayed. We are still looking into that one. Thanks. 

[+jeffgamer]

Just confirming that my issue is still ongoing as of this morning....

[+ThurgoodWhitechapel]

And Jeffgamer's issue continues here today (Nov 9).

 

Posted a note in his original thread, as it was the first I'd found. Here's a copy.

 

Safari 11.1.2 OS X 11.6 (El Capitan) 

version 1.2 of the Geocaching maps

 

I've been flipping over to Firefox when these get frustrating, but prefer Safari's ease of zooming the view with a pinch or spread of the fingers on the trackpad.

 

Went through these steps with a new cache notice today:

 

1, Received notice of New Traditional cache placed (within my search area)
2. Clicked link in email message to open cache listing (in new Safari page)
3.  Read description nd viewed small map.
4. Not enough context in small map, so clicked View Larger Map.

5. That opened Geocaching.com to a new tab showing "'can't find it' message in Safari:

5a. Munute marks were missing from coordinates, so added them to the cearch field and tried again, with same result as above).
6. Went back to cache listing page and copied coordinates (with no minute marks) to clipboard.
7. Opened new page in Safari, opened Google Maps using a bookmark, and pasted the cpied coordinates into the Google Maps search field.

    Map appeared with usual red teardrop at searched location and the usual (non-geocaching) labels

8. Returned to Geocaching.com page, clicked Play, chose Search, and pasted the copied coordinates into search field,  Clicked Search (or magnifier).

    This opened the expected list of caches, with the one at the copied coordinates at the top of the list (as expected).
9. Clicked Map these Caches. and got the same can't find it" message as before.

 

 

TW

[+dbox]

There seems to be a bug with the latest Firefox. In FF (v 82.0.3) I cannot see the button "Browse geocache" on the map and so I cannot change the view. With Edge for example the button is there (see pics)

 

[Oceansazul]

52 minutes ago, ThurgoodWhitechapel said:

And Jeffgamer's issue continues here today (Nov 9).

@ThurgoodWhitechapel Thank you for the additional steps - we continue to investigate this. 

 

23 minutes ago, dbox said:

There seems to be a bug with the latest Firefox. In FF (v 82.0.3) I cannot see the button "Browse geocache" on the map and so I cannot change the view. 

@dbox We are investigating this as well but we are not able to reproduce after testing Firefox v 82.0.3 on multiple devices. Are there any other details you might be able to provide? Are you by chance running the script GC Little Helper? Players above noted that turning off this script resolved the issue in some cases. 

[+dbox]

Yes, my fault. I was not aware that GC Little Helper is running in the background. One of config items of GClh makes the "Browse geocache" button invisible. Thank you for the quick response.

[+jeffgamer]

Any progress on the issue I'd posted about?  

 

Merci!

[+2Abendsegler]

On 11/10/2020 at 1:27 PM, dbox said:

Yes, my fault. I was not aware that GC Little Helper is running in the background. One of config items of GClh makes the "Browse geocache" button invisible.

 

Yes it is an issue for GClh. A lot of changes have been made. We are working on taking the changes in the GClh into account.

[+MartyBartfast]

On 11/2/2020 at 5:28 PM, Oceansazul said:

@MartyBartfast The fix we released addresses the zoom level issues reported here but not the issue you reported where the whole world map is displayed. We are still looking into that one. Thanks. 

Hi, any update on the whole world map displaying as I reported - it's still happening for me.